> Op. cit. National Shoreline Study, p. 27, table 2. 



Note: There Is also an annual cost of $73,000,000 associated with the cost of preventive action for beach nourishment 



Some of the most serious problems occur along: the i% (3,600 

 miles) * of the nation's coastline comprising the Great Lakes. The 

 Great Lakes have twice as great a share of the nation's critically 

 eroded coastline ^ and three and one-half times as large a percentage 

 of types A and B of this critically eroded shoreline as they do total 

 shoreline.' Shoreline erosion causes an even greater proportion of dam- 

 age in the Great Lakes, since there is more development per mile of 

 shore there than along the ocean coasts. Furthermore, international 

 and national int^re^ts regarding Lake level regulations and naviga- 

 tion cause actions which exacerbate the erosion problem. 



Federal efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers are limited to pro- 

 tecting public interests : the Corps cannot take actions which benefit 

 only private owners. The Corps also can only participate in projects 

 where public access is guaranteed. A small demonstration program 

 of 13 projects to be undertaken by the Corps has been authorized by 

 Congress, although no funds have been appropriated yet. The new 

 erosion insurance program under the Flood Insurance Act in HUD 

 will probably operate in a manner analogous to the flood insurance 

 program. Critical erosion prone areas will be designated and existing 

 development thereupon will be insured while future development will 

 have to meet certain requirements. Regulations have not been drawn 

 up yet so that the program will not be effective for a few years. 



ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM 



The problem of erosion can be broken down in the following manner : 



( 1 ) Temporal nature of development ; existing versus future 



(2) Nature of ownership ; public versus private 

 This yields four base cases : 



TABLE 2.— BREAKDOWN OF EROSION PROBLEM 



8 "A strategy for Great Lakes Damage Reduction", the Joint FRC-GLBC Task Force for 

 Great Lakes Sliorelands Damage Reduction, March 1974, p. 2. 

 T From table 1. 

 8 From table 1. 



